DECEMBER 12, 1935. FLIGHT. 633
No 601
AUXILIARY AIR FORCE
General Duties Branch ~
(COUNTY OF LONDON) (FIGHTER) SQUADRON.—P/O.
E. G. E. Rayner relinquishes his commission on account of medicalunfitneis (November u).
No. 602 (CITY OF GLASGOW) (BOMBER) SQUADRON.—R. F. Boyd isgranted a commission as Pilot Officer (November 2).
ROYAL AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE
Appointments.—The following appointments in the Royal Air1 orcc are notified: —
General Duties Branch
Group Captain.—L. L. Maclean, to R.A.F. Station, Northolt; tocommand vice Group Capt. A. H. Peck, D.S.O., M.C., 3.11.35.
Wing Commander.—C. Turner, A.F.C., to No. 23 Group Head-quarters, Grantham; for Air StaS duties vice Wing Comdr. E. R.
\di=e>, 2S.11.35.
Squadron Leaders.—H. L. P. Lester, to No. 7 Flying TrainingSchool, Peterborough; for duty as Chief Flying Instructor, 2.12.35.
W E Purdin, to Electrical and Wireless School, Cranwell; forAdministrative duties, 1.12.35. C. R. Strudwick, to No. 7 Flying
1 ruining School, Peterborough; for Administrative duties, 2.12.35.J Whiiford, O.B.E., to Superintendent oi R.A.F. Reserve, Hendon:
lor flving duties. 1.12.35. C H. Stilwell, to Headquarters, R.A.F.,Palestine and Transjordan, Jerusalem; for Personnel Staff duties
vice Wing Comdr. F. H. Laurence, M.C., 23.11.35.
Flight Lieutenants.—V. H. F. Barnett, to Central Flying School,Upavon, 27.11.35. J. S. Wilkins, to R.A.F. Station, Worthy Down,
28.11.35. K. P. Lewis, to No. 7 Flying Training School, Peter-borough, 2.12.35. N. W. F. Mason, to No. 7 Flying Training School,
Peterborough, 2.12.35. A. C. Mitchell, to No. 209 (F.B.) Squad-ron, Felixstowe, 2.12.35. C. F. Sealy, to Headquarters, Air Defence
of Great Britain, Uxbridge, 2.12.35. E. P. Smythies, to R.A.F.Station, Gosport, 2.12.35. L. Young, to Home Aircraft Depot, Hen-
low, 30.11.35.
Flving Officers.—G. H. Denholm, to No. in (F) Squadron,Northolt, 22.11.35. D. S. Radford, to No. 1 Flying Training School,
Leuchars, 26.iT.35. E. J. N. Heaven, to No. 1 School of TechnicalTraining (Apprentices), Halton, 28.11.35. T. Q. Homer, to No. 7
Flying Training School, Peterborough, 2.12.35. J- Kamsden, toNo. 1 Flying Training School, Leuchars, 2.12.35. J. Whitehead,
to No. 7 Flying Training School, Peterborough, 2.12.35.
Commissioned Engineer Officers
Flying Officer.—F. C. Whenman, to School of Army Co-operation,Old Sarum; on appointment to a permanent commission as Flying
Officer (Commissioned Engineer Officer) on probation, 15.11.35.
Stores Branch
Squadron Leader.—E. G. Keeping, to D. of E. Dept. 0/ A.M.SO,,Air Ministry, vice Sqn. LdT. F. J. W. Humphreys. 29.11.35.
Accountant Branch
Flight Lieutenant.—H. A. Murton, to No. 7 Flying TrainingSchool, Peterborough, 2.12.35. '
Medical Branch
Squadron Leader.—H. Penman, to Central Medical Establishment,London, 29.11.35; for duty as Medical Officer.
Flight Lieutenant.—J. Hill, to R.A.F. Station, Singapore, 23.11.35.
Dental Branch
Squadron Leader.—G. A. Ballantyne, D.F.C., to R.A.F. Depot,Uxbridge; for duty as Senior Dental Officer, 7.12.35.
THE STORY of the ROYAL AIR FORCE
—in Words and Pictures : A Remarkable Book About to be Published
"SQUADRONS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE and Other
Units: Their Work in Peace and War." By Ma).-•' F. A. de V. Robertson, V.D., M.A. (Oxon.), Lt.
Comdr. C. N. Colson, R.N., and F/0. W. A. Cooke.r~ Illustrated by "Flight" photographs John Yoxall,
chief photographer). Price 7s. 6d. (by post 8s.).
Flight Publishing Co.. Ltd., Dorset House, Stamford
; Street, London, S.E.i.:«fT~iHE most beautiful collection of air photographs ever
I published." That, we venture to believe, will be"t ^ the universal comment of all who see the Flight
book entitled " Squadrons of the Royal Air Force,"which is to be published in a few days. The diving Hind on
the jacket is an action picture which alone must stimulatethe desire to explore the treasures inside the covers, and
expectations are immediately fulfilled as the reader turnsto the exquisite photogravure frontispiece "On Patrol."
Never, surely, before has the majesty of cloud masses beenso gloriously portrayed by the aerial camera! The sun-
light catches the summits of the great globes of cumulus,while mysterious gloom lurks in the caverns of the clouSs.
Glimpses of the earth and its meadows down below, andthe flight of Wapitis flying across the wonderful back-
ground, combine to bring to the eye the exhilaration whichonly the airman knows.
There are fourteen more full-page photogravure picturesin the book, each in its way a masterpiece. The reader
will find it hard to decide which of them is his secondfavourite: the perfect formation flying of squadrons of
fighters and bombers, the grand seascape seen from theflying deck of H.M.S. Glorious, the white flying boats
thrown into relief by a background of the Ventnor landslipand, again, of the misty Devon coast, the flight of sinister
Heyfords winging their purposeful way over a typicalEnglish countryside, the running up of a night bomber's
engines by the light of flares, and the dive of the squadronof Gauntlets—all are really great camera pictures.
The charm of this book does not end with the full-pagephotographs. There are over a hundred others of almost
equal interest, and many of them of almost equal beauty,scattered throughout the pages. In the space at our com-
mand it is impossible to give even a rough idea of thesubjects, or even of the ground covered. The reader sees
pilots learning their job at a Flying Training School, thebeagle pack at Cranwell College, the cooks at work in the
Apprentices' School at Halton, a kite balloon ascending,the library at the Staff College at Andover, the wilderness
beyond Jordan, fighters attacking bombers and flyingboats, parachutes dropping gently to earth, elaborate in-
struction in the exacting duties of army co-operation, air-men and seamen working together in a squadron of the
Fleet Air Arm, and very much else besides. Flight is proudto offer this magnificent collection to the public.
The reading matter in the book can also claim to beunique. It is the first attempt ever made to introduce to
the public various squadrons of the Royal Air Force asindividualities. From the point of view of public interest
the Royal Air Force is rather unfortunate in using onlynumbers to distinguish its squadrons. Many ships of the
Royal Navy are familiar to everybody. Not only Nelson'sVictory is known to the world; Beatty's Lion is almost-
equally familiar, and "Evans of the Broke" is a house-hold word. So, too, with the Army ; the Black Watch, the
Buffs, the " Death or Glory " Lancers : you have only tomention them, and everyone knows what you mean. But
numbers are far less easy to grasp. No. 25 (Fighter)Squadron, No. 14 (Bomber) Squadron, No. 2 (Army Co-
operation) Squadron—how many of the public could sayanything definite about these units? Yet every one of
the R.A.F. squadrons has an individuality of its own, andevery one has a, glorious war record. They deserve to be
better known, to be very intimately known, and this booktells the story of over thirty of them.
Though the squadrons are the main theme of the book,almost every other form of R.A.F. activity is described.
The organisation of the Service is clearly set forth, and thetraining system for permanent officers, short service
officers, and aircraft apprentices is fully described. Avery succinct history of the youngest fighting Service is
also included. And last, but not least, official approvalhas been given to this book by the Foreword written by
the Secretary of State for Air.